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Former British PM Tony Blair renews argument against a 'hard' Brexit'

Last month's election stripped Prime Minister Theresa May and her Conservative Party of their parliamentary majority. Blair argues that this creates an opportunity to push for a less drastic exit from the EU.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has self-published a lengthy opinion piece arguing that June's election result presents an opportunity for British politicians to avoid severe economic damage while leaving the European Union.

"Large numbers of people voted to stop a hard Brexit and rejected the mandate Theresa May was demanding," Blair wrote in his article, which was published on the website of a public policy institute that he founded, the Institute for Global Change.

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Britain to let EU citizens stay after Brexit

Britain to let EU citizens stay after Brexit

Blair acknowledged that both of the country's main political entities - the Conservative Party and the Labour Party - remained wedded to pulling Britain out of the European Union's single market.

The march toward Brexit was being driven by longstanding political divisions within the Conservative Party, he said. The party, he argues, fears that abandoning Brexit or softening the terms would reopen internal divisions that have bedeviled the party over the past three decades.

Blair acknowledges - and laments - that his beloved Labour Party did not campaign against the Brexit. But he called Brexit the biggest political decision since World War II.

Opposing a 'hard' Brexit

In the run-up to last month's election Blair's institute polled voters in the United Kingdom, France and Germany about attitudes towards Europe, Brexit and politics more generally.

The survey, done in conjunction with Luntz Global Partners, found British voters ambivalent toward Europe and not wanting a second referendum on whether to stay or leave.